A journal about life in Wisconsin, decorating, and restoring an 1893 Queen Anne Victorian built by Civil War veteran John Olson Wrolstad and his wife Mathea. Read on to see lots of old photographs, and read stories of the second owners Thomas and Maren Quien, and their children who filled the house with memories for 90 years.
Very First Photo I Took of the House Feb 18, 2001 - 30 minutes after we bought the house.

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Monday, April 10, 2017

Raspberry Cobbler Quilt

(queen size quilt)

One of my favorite quilt blocks is "Arrowhead" by Anita Solomon; a block introduced to me at her Craftsy.com class online.

HOW THE BLOCK IS CREATED

Two squares of fabric (one light, one dark) placed with right sides together,
sewn around its perimeter,
then sliced . . .
1. diagonally once
2. vertically once
3. horizontally once
then the slices are arranged and sewn together to form this beautiful block.
There are formulas for different finished block sizes.

Peach/Ivory Solid border decorated with Lined Prairie Points

THE FABRICS:

Light Fabric: a very traditional pink rose with vines on a cream background.

Dark Fabric: a raspberry floral that reads solid from a distance.

ASSEMBLING THE QUILT:
I added a third fabric (a peach/ivory solid) around the perimeter decorating it with raspberry prairie points lined with leafy green. I quilted over the extra thicknesses of the prairie points, but did it slowly and cautiously.

PAIRIE POINTS:

Details--how to make lined prairie points . . .

FREE STYLE QUILTING:

The edge to edge quilting is my free style sequence "Floral Bouquet". It is a "S" curve ending in a spiral, back tracking with feathers down the spine, and returning with feathers up the spine. The sequence takes me under two minutes to do, and covers an area 12" high x 15" wide.

THE BACKING - decorated with art panels using up leftover blocks. I always put two art panels in a queen size backing, always different block combinations, usually one wider than the other. Below--the smaller art panel features a nine patch of the dark raspberry floral fabric paired with contrasting peach/ivory solid.

Final Step - Adding Binding

After the binding was added I took the quilt to the dining room table to turn and hand-stitch binding in place.

PREVIOUS ARROWHEAD BLOCK QUILT:

Notice how the white fabric shows off the quilting better?

I created this queen size quilt in 2015

Fabrics are from "Magical Garden Collection" by M'Liss

Loading Quilt on Frame

Detail of Quilt Top prior to long arm quilting

It took me a long time at the fabric store, looking at this M'Liss collection of three companion fabrics "Magical Garden" to figure out how I was going to use the fabrics. I mean, really! Just look at that solid mass of flowers on the backing.

I chose to frame each Arrowhead block in the lighter fabric. It tamed the busy fabric and made the quilt look airy and reminded me of pie crust. I introduced a double row of color into the border--to help make sense of the saturation of color in the backing.

***

There's more coming soon. A new queen size quilt I call, "Gray with all the Trimmings"

" Gray with all the Trimmings" Quilt:

Last week I finished the assembling the quilt top, and this weekend I started adding art panels to the backing. I may be able to finish today--and get the quilt loaded on the frame to quilt. More photos to follow soon.

As you can see from these photos--this scrappy quilt is a combination of 4 patch framed in gray and 16 patch blocks. All sewn at the dining room table on a 1939 Featherweight.

Next post, I will tell you the story about acquiring the fabulous little sewing machine and why I was working at my dining room table instead of the studio.

***

My Focus Again This Year:

To reduce my scrap bins (now numbering 4 very big, full tubs). But it was worse last fall--I had 5 tubs full).

Into the Light:

I made a promise to use up many bolts light fabrics this year--to make oodles of pillow cases. It is time to remind myself why I bought so many lovely light fabrics the last five years. I didn't buy them to decorate my studio, I bought them to use. Ha. Ha.

Thank you for stopping by. Leave me a comment; I like hearing from you.

P.S. - It's Spring:

The ground outside is still thawing and mushy. Not quite ready to start up the Condor high lift so we can climb aboard and scrape the alligator paint off the ancient barn. Because of my recent bout with inner ear dysfunction (dizziness) I'll be working close to the ground.

The past two seasons our lovely neighbors Renee and Steve have worked silently and generously with their time to remove small trees and bramble around the old barn and clearing scraggy bushes between our properties. They are absolutely amazing people. I don't know how we can ever repay them. They do so many wonderful things for lots of people.

Thank you for your note. So good to hear from you. I'll be dropping by your blog to see what you are doing. What are you doing with your stash? Got some great ideas to share? I'm all ears to learn some new stash buster projects.

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About Me

I work out of my studio as a free style long arm quilter, and designer of beaded handbags and soft luggage.
Since 2007 my husband and I have been restoring a Queen Anne Victorian. The majority of projects are finished after eight years. But, I don't think one ever finishes work on hundred year old home.
Our journal
http://www.1893victorianfarmhouse.blogspot.com shares our life here in rural Wisconsin with many before and after restoration photos and history of the two previous owner families. We feel honored to repair this old house and give it another hundred years of life.
I have lots of hobbies, most of them a result of the restoration project. I love to sew draperies, quilting queen size bed quilts, machine embroider fine linens, re-cover vintage lampshades and upholster chairs. I've become good at repairing interior walls, and scraping, priming, and painting the exterior of the house. Its hard work, but a satisfying journey.
I hope you become a follower of my blog. I have lots of photos to share with you.
Sincerely,
Mrs. D